Starlight
by Follow-The-Firefly
Summary: In which Rose and The Doctor bond over a Muse song. 10/Rose. Rated T for Teen. ONESHOT


**If I owned Doctor Who, I think I'd have Rose act a little less like a Mary Sue.**

**Yo! Zephyr here! Guess what my latest fandom obsession has been? I came up with this idea over spring break while I was listening to "Starlight" by Muse. Of course, I came up with the idea before I saw the end of season four. I've been meaning to get this up sooner, since I finished it last week, but life's been getting in the way of things lately. This is my first Doctor Who story, so I'm sorry if it's dreadful. I have a cross-over story with Halo in mind, but that might never get written...anyway, on with the deadly tale!  
**

Rose leaned against the wall of the TARDIS as she tapped her foot to the rhythm of the song that was coming through her headphones. The blonde had grown tired of waiting for the Doctor to finish doing whatever he was doing outside, as the TARDIS apparently needed to be repaired After waiting for about an hour, Rose had pulled out her iPod and started to listen to music.

"Well, I think I've got her up and working again."

Rose looked toward the door and saw the Doctor walking inside. In one hand was his usual Sonic Screwdriver, while a hammer was in the other.

"I don't want to know what you were doing with that thing." Rose took the headphones out of her ears.

"What, this?" He frowned as he held up the Sonic Screwdriver. "I've always had this."

"I meant that hammer." Rose said.

"Just fixing up the TARDIS." He replied. "I told you that, didn't I?"

"You did, but I'm not sure why you'd need a hammer." Rose shook her head.

"And what would you be doing with that, then?" the Doctor gestured towards the iPod in Rose's hand.

"Just listening to music." Rose shrugged. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

"What were you listening to?" The Doctor asked curiously.

"Ordinary music." Rose replied.

"Let's see it, then." He held out his hands like he was ready to catch something.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked as she tossed the iPod to the Doctor.

"Seeing what you were listening to." He responded as he plugged the iPod into a USB drive on the main control panel. "Or hearing, rather."

The Doctor spent a few seconds trying to get the iPod to play properly. After some time, drums and bass could be heard throughout the TARDIS, the sound waves bouncing off from the metal walls.

"Ah." The Doctor said simply.

"What is it?" Rose asked curiously.

The Doctor shook his head and said nothing. His eyes were closed and Rose could tell that he was focusing on the song. Though his arms were at his side, his fingers were drumming out the rhythm of the song.

"_Starlight_." He whispered.

"What was that?" Rose asked.

"This is _Starlight_." He opened his eyes. "The Muse song."

"You know it?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding?" The Doctor looked astounded. "This was all they'd play of them for months."

"Yeah, I suppose I remember that." Rose nodded.

The Doctor was silent for a few seconds before he said, "I can sort of identify with this song."

Rose's eyes met his as the song continued. What did he mean? Did some part of the song, part of the meaning behind it, somehow apply to him?

"What do you mean?" Rose asked slowly.

"Parts of this song apply to me." He responded.

"Which parts?" Rose asked.

"Quite a few, actually." He said.

"And what are they?" Rose asked. "Can you tell me?"

The Doctor was silent for a few seconds. Did he want her to know? Did he really want her to know the details about his life? Details that no one else knew?

"The TARDIS is like the ship in the song." He began. "It let me escape from my planet. From all of the people that I love."

"But why do you-" Rose started to ask."

"You already know why." He said, the seriousness showing in his eyes.

She knew. He never died, but simply regenerated into a different appearance. He had to watch his friends die over and over again. He could never escape it.

It was why he wanted to travel alone. He wouldn't become attached to his companion. He wouldn't have to feel the pain when he lost one of them.

Up to that point, things had gone very well. Rose and the Doctor went on their adventures, but she knew when she needed to step back and let the Doctor have his space.

"I think I'm going to be doing this forever." He said suddenly.

"Doing what?" Rose stood up and slowly walked towards him.

"Searching for other planets. Travelling in time." He paused before he said, "Chasing the stars."

"But I'll be here with you." Rose reminded him, linking her hand with his.

"For a while, at any rate." He responded. "I won't always have you with me." He looked at her and said, "You will die while I will live on. You _know _this, Rose."

"That doesn't mean that I can't be with you while I can." Rose said.

"That's why this is difficult for me." The Doctor said. "You make this easier. It's bearable now, but I know I will go through all of the pain again when I lose you."

"And I don't want you to have to go through that again." Rose said.

"It's inevitable." He shook his head. "It's happened before and it will happen again." After remaining silent for a moment, he said, "I wanted to avoid this."

"I guess it's too late for that now." Rose said.

"Just a bit, yeah." He nodded.

"So what are we going to do?" Rose asked. "We can't keep going like this."

"It won't end well." The Doctor shook his head again. "But I don't think we can ignore it, either."

"I could always leave." Rose suggested.

"I don't want you to have to do something that you don't want to do." He said.

"Oh." Rose said simply.

"I suppose I could just forget about it. Or try to, anyway." He said as he leaned against the wall of the TARDIS, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "It's probably a good idea for me to be more sociable, I guess."

"So you're going to do something that Sarah Jane has been telling you to do for years?" Rose raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe 'sociable' isn't the word I'm looking for." He frowned. "I guess I'm trying to say that I'm doing something that I want to do."

"What, something like this?" Rose asked before she sat down on the ground next to him and gave him a quick kiss.

He looked startled, but said, "Basically, yeah."

"And this won't get in the way of anything?" Rose asked. "I mean, is it even legal for a Time Lord to date a human?"

"Of course it is." The Doctor said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know your rules and laws." Rose shrugged.

"It's not like you'd need to know them, seeing as we won't exactly be going back to Gallifrey." He said. "Ooh, I just realized something!"

"What's that?" Rose frowned.

"We're going to have to tell Jackie." He sighed. "She won't be happy about this."

"Well, she's just going to have to deal with it." Rose said, taking his hand in hers. "I plan on being with you for a very long time."

**I really hope this wasn't terrible. I'm not very happy with it, but I got the idea out of my head. *shrugs* What did you all think? Reviews are greatly appreciated, as are suggestions for improvement. And these do not include, "This sucks. Go drop off the face of the Earth." This is called a flame, kiddies, and I'll just ignore them and move on to things written by intelligent people. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
